The scene was set for a classic encounter between two fierce rivals. For us Warrington fans it is one of the main fixtures of the year, one of the big events that grip tightly onto a town’s voice of opinion with anticipation. It is one of the reasons you become a Warrington fanatic in the first place even if you don’t understand what is happening on the field. For the first time in a long time, both teams were in the top three in the week leading up to the game. Wigan in second place had only lost to Hull FC two weeks previous to the big game. Warrington in third had only lost to bitter rivals St Helens in a game that could easily have swung the other way if it wasn’t for a weakness in the primrose and blue’s left hand defence. Wigan were leading due to a superior points difference but with the season beginning to take shape it was a match that could determine how successful the sides were for the rest of 2008. But no matter how well each coach prepared for the game, they were not expecting a man in pink with an overzealous whistle to become the centre of attention.
Steve Ganson had recently been prevented from refereeing top flight games due to injury. He had been assigned a few lower league matches as preparation for his return to Super League. But upon his return Messers Klein, Bentham, Smith, Thaler and Silverwood had racked up penalty counts averaging eighteen penalties per match up to round four. (Or so say Boot ‘N’ All and League Express.) It was time for the man who forced a change in refereeing assignment rules, to step up and show the rest who is the top dog. In his first game back and in front of the Sky Television cameras he penalised both sides for a season record of twenty eight times with twenty one of them occurring in the first half, and fifteen of them going in favour of Warrington.
So what does this despicable fact conclude? Well, it could be that both sides were much undisciplined and the man with the whistle had no choice but to blow up that many times. Or it could be that Ganson was out trying to impress his boss, the former referee himself Mr Stuart Cummings. I suppose picking up every little detail shows how little teams obey the laws of the game, however small the infringement. Or it could show Ganson’s hatred for both sides, although I doubt this is reality as the man in question is a respectable and unbiased official. What it does show though, is the complexity to the sport and the difficulty to first time spectators watching it. Rugby League fans often mock rugby union as a sport for the seemingly uncertainty of how a penalty was awarded, especially for those in the stands or at home in an armchair. But the same thing occurred on Saturday. Even die-hard spectators were at a loss to a number of penalties being awarded to either team. I know I was and so was the unbiased Wigan friend of mine, whom I had the pleasure of hosting in the home fans stand. Does this mean we don’t know anything about the sport? No. It just shows we are used to a free flowing game without the tiniest infringement being picked on. Lee Briers for example, was told to shift his kicking tee several inches before he restarted the game due to it not being in the dead centre of the park. If that’s not being picky, please tell me what it.
However I agree to an extent with a quote from the League Express that was said by Stuart Cummings himself. Cummings said “The media criticises referees for missing penalties, and then criticises them for awarding penalties”. The same can be said for spectators. But the problem is there, Stuart. We don’t mind the referees not awarding penalties, it’s the blatant obvious and persistent ones we want penalising. This way the game flows and the majority of fans are kept happy.
This Match Officials Directors job ain’t half a breeze.
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